Eva Rausing death: dogged by drugs until the very end

The Rausing family fortune, an estimated £4.5 billion, was based on
simple packaging for that most wholesome of substances: milk. But the lives
of its heir Hans Kristian Rausing and his wife Eva would be shaped by a
battle against substances that could not be further removed: Class A drugs.

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They lived together in Cadogan Square until 2006, when they sold their house at one of Britain's most expensive addresses, to move nearbyPhoto: WireImage

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The couple are both from wealthy backgrounds with Mrs Rausing the daughter of a former Pepsi executive, who owns an island off South Carolina

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Policemen stand guard outside the home of Eva Rausing in LondonPhoto: EPA

The Tetra Pak heir and his wife met at a drug rehabilitation clinic and, according to friends, made an odd couple: she the glamorous and vivacious daughter of a wealthy American Pepsi-Cola executive and he a painfully private but “well meaning” figure.

In London, they kept a low profile, earning only occasional mentions in the press for their philanthropic work for a string of drug addiction charities, and garnering the praise of the Prince of Wales who described Mr Rausing as “a very special philanthropist”.

However, four years ago, the cracks under the surface in the couple’s lives were exposed in dramatic and humiliating fashion when Mrs Rausing turned up to a function at the US Embassy - one of the most heavily fortified buildings in London - with a small amount of drugs on her person.

Police later raided the family home in Chelsea, and found more drugs. She was arrested and charged with possession but later escaped with a caution.

Almost as strange as the fact of the arrest itself was the substance Mrs Rausing is said to have had in her possession: crack, the concentrated, highly addictive form of cocaine associated with impoverished estates rather than the world of billionaires.

While the family’s only public comment was a short statement of regret, Mrs Rausing made her contrition plain.

“I intend to leave as soon as possible to seek the help that I very much need. I have made a grave error and I consider myself to have taken a wrong turn in the course of my life. I am very sorry for the upset I have caused. I thank my family and friends for their kindness and understanding.”

For all her desire to change, Mrs Rausing struggled with her demons. One friend was quoted as saying: “She’ll talk about wanting to get clean and getting her life back on track and look you straight in the eye while having heroin in her bag.”

When police called at the couple’s town house, he reportedly jumped out the bathroom window. He later denied that he had fled, and the matter was quietly resolved.

The couple were dispatched to rehab but, according to friends at the time, were reluctant participants. Mr Rausing is said to have refused to go to a special clinic in Thailand.

There was also talk of cutting them off from the family money for their own good and even claims that they might be encouraged to separate.

Their relationship came to a tragic end on Monday when Mrs Rausing was found dead at their home from a suspected drug overdose and Mr Rausing was arrested for possession of drugs.

The couple’s wealth stemmed from Tetra Pak, a simple foil-lined cardboard alternative to the milk bottle invented and patented by Mr Rausing’s grandfather, Reuben, in 1953.

Mr Rausing’s father, Dr Hans Rausing, developed the company into a multi-billion pound conglomerate. Hans Kristian Rausing was born in Lund in southern Sweden in 1963.

But, for a family that made its fortune through the extraordinary success of an invention, the Rausings have never been entirely at ease with riches.

Having known life before wealth, Mr Rausing senior and his wife Marit were determined that Hans Kristian and his sisters, Lisbet and Sigrid, would have a taste of normality.

In the unshowy culture of Sweden in the 1970s, the children were sent to their local school in the university town of Lund, and, at least initially, had lives like any other child.

“We didn’t have cooks or chauffeurs, or anything,” Lisbet Rausing would later recall.

“Sweden is different from England that way, more classless, and I am glad because it meant I learnt how to do things: how to cook and so forth.”

But even as a child Hans Kristian is said to have been “silent and uncommunicative” and, at least according to Richard Bezant, Mr Rausing senior’s former assistant, lived in the “shadow” of his father.

Mr Bezant, who has since fallen out with the Rausing family over money, recalls the moment the 16 year-old posed proudly for a picture with a giant pike he had caught.

“It was the only time I have seen Rausing show an interest in his son’s success,” Mr Bezant claimed.

Even then the family wore its wealth rather uncomfortably. In a rare interview Sigrid Rausing spoke of “skulking in doorways” because of paranoia. “I know people who are emotionally crippled by money they inherited,” she said. “It does not help anyone.”

The family eventually decamped to Britain in the early 1980s, away from Sweden’s “punitive” inheritance tax laws, which they feared would force them to effectively nationalise the company.

Mr Rausing senior attempted to involve his son in his businesses but with little visible success. It is claimed that at board meetings the younger man said little, if anything. When Mr Rausing senior was bought out of the company by his brother, Gad, in 1996, his son and daughters were left with no direct interest in the business - despite their share of an estimated £4.5 billion fortune.

The younger Mr Rausing’s failure to fill his life with meaningful activity appears to have been his downfall. His life was starkly different to that of his sisters. While they embarked on successful and serious academic careers, he headed to India, ostensibly to study anthropology.

There he is said to have taken the well-trodden hippy trail, living rough and making his way to Kathmandu, where he appears to have first developed his problem with drugs. It was this that precipitated his first encounter with his future wife, Eva Kemeny, at the rehabilitation clinic. The couple married and had four children. Drawing from their own experience, they devoted themselves to supporting a string of addiction charities, especially Mentor.

For Mr Bezant, the spiral into addiction was like a parable about money and happiness. “It is indicative of what money can do,” he said.

“Hans Kristian had no need to work. He had everything. I had always dreamed of having an E-type Jaguar. And I remember the day he just rolled up in his E-type. Then he had a Ferrari. I’m still paying for my bloody Volvo. They have all this money but they are not actually happy.”